Dark is the Soul, Light is the Heart
by KyuZanDark
Summary: After the fight with Xehanort and reuniting with her friends, Aqua has one more promise to keep. But when she travels to Oolacile, not only is she's not the most welcomed of guest, death is irrelevant for most as the soul takes priority over the heart. Will she go retain her sanity or go hallow finishing Artorias last request?
1. A Knights Promise

**KZD: I own neither Dark Souls nor Kingdom Hearts. So I decided to make a sequel to my one-shot Haunted. This will be a short multi chapter story.**

* * *

It had taken some time, and some help from Master Yen Sid, but Aqua had finally found what she hoped was Lordran. When asked for her reasoning of finding a time twisted place by the elder master and her friends she simply told them that she had one more promise to fulfill. The two masters combed through maps and charts of the stars until they found one that was well hidden compared to others by a primitive darkness. Yen Sid tried to find any information on it but nothing turned up in any of his books. This world was completely uncharted territory for keybearers, and from the feel of the place, for good reason.

"Does it have to do with that weird necklace you found?" Surprisingly, Ventus had asked this question. The large black amulet would make a small chime with every little movement she'd make and has proven its usefulness against the forces of darkness more than once on her finished journey to reunite with her loved ones. She simply nodded her head to the windswept blond who insisted in going with her. Aqua had counter acted at him to stay behind and watch over their elder friend Terra to make sure that he didn't have a sudden darkness relapse. After being separated from Xehanort, the once proud chestnut haired man had grown paranoid and anxious to just about everything making it difficult for him to rejoin society.

"Don't worry; Ven. I'll be back before you now it." The blond pouted but agreed to let her go on this self-made solo mission.

"Fine," he pouted, "but you better tell me what's up with that amulet after. It's not like our wayfinders."

"Sure thing. Maybe I'll bring you back a souvenir when I'm done." Ventus brightens up at this. No matter his actual age he was still a kid at heart and loved the thought of any kind of gift. With a wave goodbye, Aqua left for the stars on her glider with a map chart pinpointing her destination.

* * *

The sky bleeds a magnificent orange that rested above a heavy forest that held deadly secrets. Living stone and scarecrow men stood rigid surveying the area for any intruders who dared trespass upon the Royal Wood. Statically they guarded magical elevators that lead to their past masters township. They had neither emotion nor conscious, completely unaware of the horrors that have transpired in their land.

Just below the mallet and pitchforked guards a portal ripped open in a ripple of blinding light the size of a human body. A suit of silvery blue metal walked from the portal. It looked much more advanced compared to a normal knight's armor with sleek curves that suggest a feminine user. The portal expelled itself just as the armor stepped a few feet away from the mysterious light.

"This should be the place." Aqua's voice echoed from inside her armors helm. She scanned the area looking for any signs of life but found nothing but the architecture of the coliseum in front of her. She felt completely isolated and lonely in this place more so than when she was trapped in the realm of darkness. At least the heartless kept her busy with their relentless assaults. This place just felt completely empty, hallow. There's no wind and the air felt heavy and stagnate despite its haunting beauty.

She looked down at her hands to see that she was still being shielded by her armor. Normally it would disappear after crossing the Lane in Between but not this time. It was crafted to protect the user from darkness. The only reason why it hadn't dissipated back to is partial form is if the surrounding area was completely suffocated in the black essence.

"Well, well aren't you just a surprise." The keybearers head twitched to the sudden snide of a voice that had stayed silent for the longest time. A lanky looking man wearing a trench coat complimented by a disturbingly smiling mask and top hat leaned against a wall just across a small stone bridge that closed a gap to a long fall. "From what strange land do you hail from stranger? Thou wear remints that of knights from Anor Londo. But that entrance of yours says otherwise."

Aqua frowned from under her helm. She could sense a dark aura from him and that damn creepy mask of his didn't help. The Master slowly walked up to the stranger keeping a safe distance between.

"No, I'm not from around here. Could you tell me exactly where I am?"

"Oh so you can talk, eh? Not like that other ruffian that passed by. Ah, but where are my manner. I'm Chester of Carim, and you my dear are in Oolacile."

"Then I'm in the right place." She mumbled. Artorias mentioned this place before his downfall. That the cause of the Abyss was here.

"Come again?" Chester raised a curious brow from under his mask unsure of what to think of this stranger. Then again, he was no native either. He closely scrutinized the warrior in front of him trying to find any reason why this armored maiden could ever come to this damnable place. Then something caught his eye.

"Have you come across the knight Artorias, the legendary Abyss Walker? Curious it is to see you with his amulet."

Aqua looked down to see that that the dark knights crest being worn on the outside of her armor. She hadn't even notice until this man even mentioned it. Truth be told, the keybearer had been wearing it for so long it felt like a part of her now just like her wayfinder. A loud crackle came from Chester as he pointed an accusing finger at her.

"I knew that pathetic scoundrel couldn't of actual done it. So you're the one who really slew Artorias. I heard the Abyss found him first but even still. That's absolutely treacherous. Yes. Magnificently so." He continued to chuckle finding the morbid accusation of his statement humorous.

Aqua gritted her teeth and eyes narrowed dangerously at this man. It was people like him that she couldn't stand. They always have ill intent on the mind or personal gain through manipulating others.

"I did not slay him. I freed him from his torment."

"Slay, freed it is all the same. In the end he's dead, is he not? And what of you, here on a dying wish of sorts?" A sudden rage started to cloud her mind. Aqua restrained herself from summoning her keyblade and cutting down the man where he stood.

When had she herself become so dark? All that time in the Realm of Darkness had taken its toll on her. The keyblade master couldn't lie that she had let the darkness enter a small portion of her heart. Though it only showed during times of great frustration or anger just like how this man was infuriating her now. She had to get away before she does something she might regret. Turning away from the man she headed to the opening of the coliseum.

"Aww, did I hit a nerve? Head that way and you'll only end up like fool knight. Completely mad."

"Then I rather go mad then become insane by listening to you a second longer." Aqua said with an icy tone.

Chester's hand twitched near his side where he stashed his sniper crossbow. How dare this woman speak to him in such a rude tongue! She's even worse than that Lord Blade that had out right ignored him. He made to retort against her but stopped at a simple thought. This woman was heading straight for the Abyss's source. The corruption of this terrible place will make her humanity run wild and steal it away all at once. Or at the very least make her go Hallow. Yes, that sounded like a marvelous idea. Chester started laugh from underneath his smiling mask.

"So long."

Aqua let out a sigh of relief as whatever evil thoughts plagued her mind seem to wash away now that she was far away from that infuriating man. She almost didn't notice the big head of a dead body that her foot was about to squish. The keybearer jumped from the disturbing sight of the rotting creature that lied still in front of the door frame. In all of her travels, Aqua had never seen such a thing. Its head was massive and it wore tattered ripped clothing. Its arms were twisted and bent in an awkward position, and its multiple red dull dead eyes looked up at her completely soulless. But there was something about that seemed creepily familiar.

"I-is this thing…Human?" Aqua tried to proses this theory despite it being hard to believe. Was the darkness here different from other worlds? In another place a person would become a heartless if they let the dark into their hearts. This thing definitely wasn't a heartless though. So did the darkness here instead horribly mutate a person? Artorias didn't change physically, he just went insane. Then again he wasn't human and acted like humanity was the bane of existence.

"What the hell is going on in this world?" She said just above a whisper moving aside and faraway from the rotting corpse. Finally taking her eyes off the body, Aqua finally looked at her surroundings. The circular coliseum was old and tattered with plant veins growing from the cracks. Scratches from blades littered the ground in splinters and a black ooze substance littered it. It looked to be abandoned for years and in need of serious renovation before it could be used properly once more.

A body kneeled over one of the rocks caught the keybearers attention. The person paid no mind to her and stayed completely unmoving in front of the stone structure, something Aqua was thankful for. The last thing she wanted was to get in another conversation with someone like Chester again. Maybe if she was quiet enough and said nothing they would leave the keyblade master to her work. It's too bad that fate had other planes for her at that moment.

Just a sparing glance and Aqua stopped dead in her tracks right near the kneeling person. The person held two floating items close like they were the most precious things in the world. One she did not recognize but could sense darkness radiating off the black and purple sprite. The other she knew all too well. A pink object floated in the persons opposite palm radiating with light and curved with a defined shape unlike the other. In front, the stones looked to be moved for a make shift grave of sorts. On it a flower and a tassel of jet black hair. Her mouth open before she could heaven think her next words.

"This is Artorias's grave." This person head peeked over their shoulder at the mystic knight. Golden eyes glowed from behind a porcelain mask that had a foe Cyclops eye in the middle and small ram like horns on the side. Those eyes caused Aqua to flinch under her armor as she has grown a stereotype when it came to others with yellow eyes. This person even had the ivory silver hair to match.

"What is your purpose here, Human? How do you know of Artorias?" A chilling female voice came from behind the mask. Aqua racked her brain for a proper answer sensing the women's distrust and impatient. Her eyes lit up when she thought of something the deceased knight had said.

"Are you Ciaran?"

"How do you me mortal?"

"He mentioned your name before his passing." That got the kneeling knights full attention. She stood up slowly and turned to glare at the armored figure. At first glance Ciaran almost mistook the armor from that of a Silver Knights back in Anor Londo but there were obvious differences.

"You're not an ordinary human." Ciaran's icy golden eyes burned into the helmet of Aqua's unseen face. Her eyes lowered to the pendent that the other knight wore. "And how did you come across that amulet?"

Aqua was about to open her mouth when the pink floating heart in Ciaran's grasp floated away from her and to the other knight in a lazy fashion. The assassin of the four knights of Gwyn became rigid ready to attack if this unknown person did anything to the levitating organ but no such intentions came from the other.

"Glad to see you found your way home." Aqua smiled at the small heart that floated at eye level.

"Thanks to thee I was able to return." The heart started to glow and a transparent silhouette of a very tall armored man appeared. The Lord Blade couldn't believe her eyes at the sight. Her old comrade was standing right in front of her.

"Ar-Artorias is that-"

"Yes, Ciaran it's me." The phantom knight said softly as he looked down at his smaller friend. His voice no longer sounded empty like the short time Aqua had to speak with him last time. Instead there was a certain air of both pride and compassion to him despite his spectral form.

"Tis not possible. I saw you fall against the human."

"Another human?" Aqua raised a brow and crossed her arms as she looked at the phantom who chuckled.

"I guess I owe the both of you an explanation. I will have to be quick as I do not have much time left." He held out his hand to Ciaran near the black floating sprite that she held. She didn't hesitate in handing the black sprite back to its original owner. Artorias looked down at the black and purple flame in his palm before putting his free hand over his armored chest where his heart floated. He tilted his head to the armor cladded human.

"Master Aqua," He address her with the highest honor though a title she never truly got use to or particularly liked, "you freed my heart from the clutches of the Abyss, and for that I thank you. In doing so though you also separated my soul from my heart."

Artorias brought the floating sprite closer to Aqua and she looked at it curiously. This is what a soul looked like? It definitely wasn't what she hoped to imagine what one looked like. It was completely unformed as it burned like fire and she could feel the darkness just radiating off of it along with a great power.

"The soul is the very will of a person and is imprisoned by the heart. It's what drives a person to live and give them life. But because of Manus my will became corrupt and ran amuck."

Now this was concept never taught to her by Eraqus. A beings soul is trapped within the heart and is what the knight basically explained and the reason why she's even walking. The only knowledge that she had been of the heart and it containing a person most treasured memories. She originally thought that the soul was located around the whole body and not in one place.

"Somehow my heart found its way back to Ciaran." He looked over to the smaller knight with a ghost of a smile. She averted her hers slightly embarrassed. "But my soul came back to this coliseum where the placed Abyss in my soul took on thy form and created chaos. Until that other human stopped me once more and calmed my raging soul by proving his is stronger." The dead knight finished his tale. His head tilted towards the sun as it rays seemed to shine down upon him giving him a euphoric glow.

"My one regret, isn't being able to destroy Manus, but putting my friend's lives in danger. I don't even know what became of Sif or Alvina."

"I've seen no sight of either of them. Tis possible that they are both still trapped in the Abyss." Ciaran said with mild worry. Like Artorias, she enjoyed having the two animals around for their companionship and conversations with the cat could be quite interesting at times with its quick temper. "Hawkeye is missing too."

Artorias tilted his head confused thinking of the other knight.

"How does one miss Gough?" He said with a slightly raised voice of disbelief. Ciaran scratched the side of her mask while Aqua raised a brow from under her helm. Something told her that Gough wasn't human either.

"Is Gough another knight? I could go look for him along with the others if you wish."

"Yes, Hawkeye Gough is one of us but not just any ordinary knight. He is the first giant to ever become a knight and the only one to become one of Lord Gwyns Four. Thyself Abyss Walker, Lord Blade Ciaran, Hawkeye Gough, and Captain of the Guard Dragonslayer Ornstein. We make up the Four Knights of Gwyn that protect Anor Londo from the threat of the Dark Soul inherited by the furtive pigmy. Ancestor to all humans" Artorias paused to catch his breath. He looked directly at Aqua but failed to see her stern face at the last piece of information as she calculated it her head.

Did this mean that all human souls were dark, or just this worlds humans? This place was ancient but it was hard to believe that the father of man came from such a horrid place. And this Manus is supposed to be primeval man, could it be that he is this furtive pigmy?

"Humans have a better time handling the Abyss for they are inherently dark themselves. We would much appreciate if you can find them Master Aqua." Inherently dark? The bluenettes eyes widen. That couldn't be true! She was about to protest when Artorias spectral body rippled and he let out a sigh.

"It would seem that my time is up." His body started to fade into tiny bubbles of white light. Aqua felt sadness watching her short time friend finally starting to move on to the next life. This poor tormented heart could finally move on after leaving his grievances and wish out in the open. "I leave the rest to you and the other undead warrior to finish my task."

Artorias shifted back to Ciaran who had her head facing towards the ground. He let out a small sigh. With what little mobility left he lightly grabbed hold of one of her hands and cupped his soul around it. "I will no longer be needing this. I'm sure you'll keep it safe."

"I will." She said just below a whisper. His arms suddenly wrapped around her catching the smallest of the knights by surprise but a welcome one. As knights they are sworn only to their duty and to their king, never to show emotion to better serve even when one of their own dies. Both have seen horrors from the wars with the dragons. They teased out the sadness in rage that everyone has deep inside but the Four Knights of Gwyn had always kept stone faces. So why now was it so different?

"I'm sorry my dear, but this is the last time." And just like that he was gone from the world leaving only a lonely wind between the Lord Blade and Master Keyblader.

"It never gets easier does it?" Aqua watched as Artorias heart floated away before disappearing for good into the next life.

"Never. But as knights we must always keep a stone face and be strong even when our closest pass on. You too should know this." Ciaran sighed as she said the last part and Aqua hummed as a response. No, death was never an easy thing. But losing time that could be spent with others is much worse.

"I guess I should be going then." The white masked knight nodded and used her free hand to point the walking armor to her destination.

"The spread of the Abyss is coming from down yonder near the dungeon below us. That's where the other human was headed at the very least." Aqua nodded her head and made a mental checklist to find this knight first then search for Sif and Alvina before fighting whoever or whatever this Manus is.

"Wait Hu-I mean master Aqua."

"What is it?" she tilted her head back to glance at the knight whose gaze held an air of seriousness to it.

"Do you know of the Dark Sign?"

"Can't say I've had. Is it important?" Ciaran smirked from under her masked in mild amusement. This human must really not be from any neighboring lands if she didn't know of the curse of the undead. The assassin chuckled lightly.

"Not unless you're branded with it. Besides I believe that the other human would better demonstrate the use of the Dark Sign then I." something about the way Ciaran said demonstrate caused a chill to go down the masters' spine. Something was very wrong with this land other than the spread of the Abyss and the sooner she resolves the problem in Oolacile the better. Just as she was about to leave the silent arena, Aqua heard one more comment carried by the haunting wind but sounded so simple like an everyday thing on this world.

"Try not to die."

* * *

**KZD: I had a dream a while back that was a DS and KH crossover. Riku was Artorias**


	2. Jolly Cooperation

**KZD: I own neither Dark Souls nor Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

Everything was silent until a shrill scream broke the air like as if were a thin sheet of glass. The disruption of the foe placidity cause Aqua new twitch from under her armor as her body went on high alert. But as quickly as the sound came it dissipated into the silent air once more.

"This place is creepier the Halloween Town." She muttered under his breath. Just as she was getting use to the eerie silence her head peeked at the sound of a soft humming. Moving in the direction of the humming it grew louder but was soothing nevertheless. Coming into view, Aqua spotted a large fire that flicked and licked itself upon a burning sword that stuck erect from the ground. A suite of armor stood before the obstruction with its head hung low in a sullen matter. The person didn't budge an inch as if contemplating something or even so, mesmerized by the intense flames of the supposed bonfire.

Aqua tilted her head as she watched the down crested knight from behind. Was this the other human that she was supposed to meet up with? Ciaran made it sound like he was much further ahead. He honestly didn't look like much. He wore armor that looked like it was from the early medieval era, a simple long sword strapped to his waist and shield to his back along with a bow and a quiver of arrows. But she knew well that appearances are more if not always deceiving.

"Um, hello?" The Elite Knight nearly jumped out of his skin. He quickly drew his weapon as he turned and pointed it at her, just a few inches from her helm. The Keybearer didn't flinch from the sudden action. She anticipated the immediate hostility as everyone on this world so far seemed extremely tense and wary of each other. With all of the silence, Aqua could clearly hear the ragged breathing of the other as she waited for him to calm down to see that she wasn't a threat. He looked over her shielded form and didn't see any obvious weapons on her person. It took time, but the knight finally lowered his sword only to keep his tense stance. She raised her hand about chest level in a submissive gesture.

"Don't worry I'm not here to pick a fight. More of the opposite really." The Elite Knight straitens himself feeling more at ease after hearing the women speak. There's definitely a certain air about her that one would call a soothing aura. Definitely a good change of pace for the knight considering all the other acquaintances on his journey who reeked of killer intent.

"Are you the one who calmed Artorias?" The knight stayed silent as he nodded his head to the female. Aqua smiled from under her helm. This would be easier the she thought but something about Ciaran's final message and this man's down casted manner still put her off. She brushed the icky feeling aside for now as they're more important matters to attend to.

"Then we have the same goal in mind. We both want to grant his last duty to stop the spread of the abyss." The knight continued to stay silent until he made a sudden gesture as he pointed forward at her or more precisely the amulet around her neck. The keyblade master brought a hand over the trinket and squeezed it slightly feeling the ancient magic that surrounded it.

"That's right," she sighed, "This amulet belongs to him and helps in repelling dark magic." The Elite Knights perked up from the trinkets helpful description. As of recent events, dark magic is now the bane of his cursed existence. He would trade a hefty amount of souls for such an item. But by the way the woman's holding it, he doubt that she wouldn't relinquish it easily.

"I don't know much of this place, but there's safety in numbers. I'm willing to work together to defeat this Manus if you are." The knight pondered this offer for a moment. This woman wasn't a white phantom by any means or a sunlight warrior. She could easily betray him and stab him in the back sending him straight off the cliff without a care if he wasn't carful like many red phantoms had done to him in the past. Each one of his death were scared deep within the knight's memories as a lesson to never repeat the same mistake twice for which each death he lost a part of his sanity. But this place of Oolacile is proving to be a bit more than the knight can handle by himself as he recalled his last death. A companion to watch his back wasn't such a bad idea. And even if she betrayed him, he would just resurrect once more, find her, than rob her of all humanity as punishment. In his mind no harm no fowl.

The knight straightens up before giving a proper bow to the keybearer in acceptance of her offer. Aqua was slightly taken aback by the strange gesture but bowed back nevertheless. "Can he even talk?" She thought but didn't ask thinking it would be rude if he actual couldn't. "Maybe he had his tongue cut off." Aqua joked in her mind unbeknown of the possibility that her own imagination of the man being true.

The Elite Knight readied his sword and shield putting his shield in front and weapon to his side and pointed down the stair case leading into town. Aqua smile from under her mask and summoned Rainfall to her. "Lead the way."

Almost immediately the pair was ambushed by a stay bloated head civilian. Its arms thrashed around violently from their crooked angle as it screeched with blood thirst. The knight shielded against the blows as if on cue. He already knew of this trick from a previous mistake made but not again. When it tired Aqua easily defeated it with a quick firaga spell. The bloated head citizen let out a shrill scream before a cooked body fell dead on the ground completely charred.

The knight looked suspiciously at the armored maiden that he chosen to partner with, but more specifically her blade and its smoking tip. He spied no pyromancy glove so he found it intriguing how she was able to cast such a grand fireball at the enemy. The weapon she held was strange and completely foreign to him compared to the ones he seen big bosses have used in the past. He wondered if such a catalyst could produce sorceries and miracles as well.

"You alright?" He nodded in response and continued to take the lead in this expedition. He took no damage from the monster so there's no reason to worry at the moment. He nodded his head grateful for the concern.

They descended down the stair case more towards the center of town. The two warriors have the higher ground as they spied a group of the bloated headed citizens standing stagnate and making gruesome noises. The two knights stayed silent to not alert the enemies. Aqua made a signal with her hand that she would take on the two to the left and her pattern nodded as he started to sneak his way to the other two on the right.

Aqua silently stalked over to one of the monsters. The one just before her target took notice of her and screeched out an alert but not before watching its companion get cut down with a single swipe to its massive head. The second one roared in anger and swung its arm out at her that was easily repelled by her reflect barrier and it fell to the ground. Just before it could get up, the keybearer impaled it threw the chest.

The creature let out a squeal before it died with blood gurgling from its mouth. Aqua flinched from the sight. She was so use to enemies to simply disintegrate from existence, not one that left a carcass behind like these when she slew them. Heck, even Xehanort didn't leave his body behind when he was vanquished from the worlds. She continued the watch the blood flow from the body and stain her blade. These things are human right? So did that make her a murder? The very though made her skin crawl. No, these things weren't human anymore, their humanity completely run rampant that made them monsters not innocent bystanders and she slayed monsters for the good of the worlds. Aqua looked over to her right and watched as her new friend back stab one of the mutant monsters. The crimson fluid splattered against his armored form as he kicked the body away and dogged rolled away from a swinging shield before dashing in for the kill of the second monster. None of this seemed to faze him and Aqua didn't judge him, as the man probably has spilt his fair amount of blood in his lifetime without a second thought unlike her. As the second monster came up to the man, he quickly blocked with his shield from its swinging arms before slashing at the monsters torso leaving it dead where it stood. Yes, cutting down monsters is easy and should be done without a thought.

Aqua pulled her keyblade out of the bloated beast chest and continued with the knight at her side. He stuck a hand out in front of her and pointed to an arch like structure. She stopped to watch him as he stepped up to the arch and stood on a platform. He then proceeds to point at the ground.

"Is something there?" The knight nodded as she stepped up to the platform near the outer edges seeing what he was pointing down to. There's a square that has a strange pattern designed into it and didn't looked to sturdy. Aqua tilted her head, suspicious of the indent before lightly pressing her foot against it. The square lite up with a radiant blue hue and released a soft humming. The two warriors soon found themselves descending on the platform into a black cavern only to stop in front of a narrow passageway. "A short cut then." The Elite knight nodded and took the lead but not without his shield up. Aqua squirted her eyes in a mild glare; he knew something was just waiting for them at the end of the hall.

The Abyss definitely had a strangle hold in this new area below the township. It grew and pulsated off the wall like a blooming flower with its vines corroding and corrupting the architecture. The air itself has become heavier to breath with the pressure of the darkness increasing at a drastic wait. A darkness Aqua was all too familiar with as it's identical to that of when she was trapped in the dark realm. Her blood ran cold at the very thought of having to return to her prison. She did her best to bit back that fear and instead watch her companion as he seemed to be searching for something against the blood stained ground.

The knight's head moved back and forth until he spotted a peculiar blood stain. A green glow of power emanated from it and swirled in a curious manner just before a stair case. Placing a hand out to it, the green aura attached itself to the knight as he absorbed the power from it and the blood stain vanished into thin air. He let out a ragged sigh, pleased at recovering his lost power with little trouble thanks to his new partner but now came the hard part and the reason why the blood stain was created.

A singular bloated head monster twitched its head at the bottom of the stairs listening for prey but it wasn't alone. On the adjacent ascending stairs stood two lanky bodies with a feminine physic but shared the same horrible head as the rest of the mobs. Both held large like tree branches in their clawed hands. But engraved it the knight's memory was the true reason behind the blood stain. Just hiding outside of view behind the sides of the walled descending stair case, are two more corrupt citizens waiting for an ambush.

Aqua analyzed the two new monsters thinking of the best way to approach the situation. By the look of the weapons they carried she deducted that they were casters and knowing her luck they more than likely used dark magic. The singular melee monster was positioned so that he was almost like a lure to draw them in closer for the sorceress and possibly more. Something she wasn't going to fall for and from the look of her companion, neither was he as he pulled out his composite bow.

An electric shock pulsed through her keyblade and it dissembled itself. The pieces transformed quickly and came back together into a mock version of her gliders own great bow form. Aqua squinte her eyes as she locked on to her visible targets and ready her hand to weave the light arrows needed to take them out. She gave the knight a nod prepared, and he walked forward slowly with his shield raised up to his chest.

The single visible bloated headed monster shrieked when it spotted the knight alerting the rest of its monster brethren. As Aqua expected, black energy started to form on the catalyst of the tall sorceresses. He rolled back quickly as two more monsters jumped from their hiding place behind the stair case. Black beads of darkness shot from the tall ones ivory wooden wands, nicking the knights heels as he backed off. The moment her got back to Aqua's side, streams of light struck all five of the monsters on their horrible heads. They let out a gasp of surprise before falling over dead on the spot.

"You alright?" She asked while her blade reverted to its normal form. He nodded. The wound was thankfully superficial and barely left a dent in his armor. The darkness from the blast seemed to have no obvious effects on his body as if it just naturally absorbed the blackness. Aqua was startled by this but remembered Artorias's words of humans being inherently dark. She started to wonder if that's the case for humans of this world and hoped it was only for this world. The keybearer let out a sigh to shake off her probing thoughts and continued forward with the knight lagging behind as he was checking and of the bodies for loot.

As she walked up the stairs and avoided the bodies she slew, she stopped dead at the sight up ahead and tilted her head at the creature waiting for them.

"What in Kingdom Hearts is that thing?" This thing didn't look like the other monsters seen so far, mainly because it has a normal size head but with hideous growths on its shoulder and back. It looked like something that escaped from an asylum. It struggled in vain to move its arms but his torso was covered with thick chains that connected to an iron ball that scraped the floor with each steep by its legs and a wooden pole strapped to its back. The chains themselves looked rusted and parts even fused with the new monsters body.

Aqua couldn't help but feel some pity for the former human. Likely, it was just captive prisoner unable to run away from the spread of the Abyss causing it to become mutated with its bindings. The Elite Knight finally came up beside her and started at the poor creature with a tilted head.

"It doesn't look to fast but that chain mail is a problem. Physical attacks will just bounce right off it. Do you know any magic?" She received a shrug as an answer. Aqua sighed in mild annoyance at the knight's gesture wishing that he could talk. For all she knew a shrug meant "maybe."

The monster moaned as it took notice of the two warriors and began to trudge forward, its ball screeches at its feet with each steep. The knight steeped up first and ran up to the monsters side while Aqua mirrored him flanking to the side. His long sword slashed against the monsters chain mail. It only scratched the mutant as the weapon unexpectedly bounced back catching the knight off balance. He hadn't fought this beast before so he didn't exactly know the best way to go about slaying it. Maybe the girl's right. Physical means won't kill this thing.

With little time to react, The Elite Knight brought up his dragon crest shield to block the beast charging with the pole on its back extended out to him. The impact is stronger then he expected and drained his stamina severely to the point where the strike made him crash into the nearest statue in the room.

Aqua cursed as she heard the knight groan in pain and immediately cast a thunder spell on the creature. It did little but gets its attention. It quickly turned its body around and its chain ball flew from the momentum. Her eyes widen from the balls speed as she put a reflect barrier. The barrier didn't have time the finish properly and easily shattered like simple glass. The rusted round object smashed against the side of her armor head creating an impeccable dent in the magical armor.

Aqua skidded across the floor from the impact. When she finally stopped she swore she saw double of the monster trudging to her. She gritted her teeth and shook her head to see straight in time to see the beast charging at her wooden beam extended and ready to pierce right through her body. She cursed under her breath as she rolled away at the last second as the pole broke the ground. The monster heard her attempt to escape and swung its make shift spear to her side only to miss once more but not by much. She was wrong about the monsters speed and with the way it was fighting, Aqua deduced that it was blind and using its hearing to "see." The pity she once felt for the mutated monster was quickly dissipating.

The keybearer jumped back to where the knight was as he pulled himself from the rumble just as the prisoner reared its pole back, swaying side to side listening for its opponents. Aqua put a finger up to her helm telling him to be silent before pointing to the dark hallway that he monster guard, the knight nodded his head in agreement. Watching the beast the knight made to step away from the ruble but his foot caught on a stray stone, kicking it away.

Aqua cringed as the mutant roared at the two and dashed to their location pole aimed. She sent a salvo of spells at the creature only for it to not stagger or flinch in the slightest in its rage.

"Bind!" A circular electric field surrounded itself around the chained prisoner. Aqua quickly dismissed her keyblade as she caught the wooden beam. The bind spell had done the trick of stopping the monsters dash but not its attempt of murder. With her back against the wall the beam was only an inch from piercing her chest as it was held still by her metal coated digits. The monster couldn't move properly but it didn't stop it from applying its strength to its weapon knowing soon that the women's stamina would run out as it felt her struggling.

Fire erupted in the form of lava on the monsters back and it screamed horribly. It reared its pole back away from Aqua as the bind spell lifted. Its body ignited at it couldn't escape the pool of lava that formed around it. It let out one final roar before it fell to its knees and turned into ash in a similar matter that Artorias had then the way that the other creatures have and left a carcass. All that was left the beast was a glowing golden sprite that was shadowed by the body of the knight who's hand glow a strange red.

The Keyblade Master let out a sigh of a relief as she stared at the knight as he picked up the strange soul and it suddenly change in to chainmail armor in his hands. He then proceeded to pull out a box from his person and stuff the new items inside.

"And here I thought you didn't know any magic." The knight put his box away and tilted his head to the armored women. He really didn't know any magic and started to wonder, if where she was from, were pyromancy and magic the same thing?

Aqua took the time to cast a cure spell on herself and reveled in relief as her head injury disappeared. She offered to heal the knight but he held his hand up in protest before bulling out a burning orange flask and took a swing of it. Aqua guessed it was a potion or something similar but she found it funny that the knight never removed his helmet to drink as its healing constant seemed to just be absorbed by his body much like the darkness had before. Odd enough the left over droplets look like the remnants of sunlight.

The two walked cautiously threw the dark narrow corridor until they arrived at another elevator switch just like the one above ground. The knight steeped on the switch and it released a blue light and a hum of the platform making its way to them. When it arrived, alone bloated head citizen came up with it back turned to the warriors completely unaware. The Elite Knight shrugged before promptly kicking the monster of its perch and to the abyss below. Aqua had to muffle a laugh from the odd situation. Poor thing didn't know what hit. With the obstruction on the elevator gone, the twosome hopped on and pressed the secondary switch to head down deeper into the corruption and light became minimum.

The air was dense with darkness, an all too familiar feeling to Aqua as she and her companion steeped of to the elevator. From the looks of it they were it a busted dungeon, possibly where the iron prisoner was being held before he escaped. Strangely enough there was a bonfire sitting not aflame. The knight rushed passed her, relief at the sight of wood and sword combo and stuck his hand out to it. The fire ignited to the knights presents revealing its soothing presents to all. The knight let out a relived sigh as he took a seat near the bonfire. He looked back to his companion and made a gesture for her to join in which she took.

"Maybe a little rest wouldn't be so bad." The knight nodded his head in agreement before fixing his gaze on the flames. Aqua had to admit that she felt some comfort from the flames and kind of wished she had something like this while she was in the dark realm. She rested her back against the stone wall and stared lazily into the flames before taking a fleeting glance at her companion who looked like he was about to nod off. A little rest wouldn't hurt if what has happened so far was only a taste for what is to come. For this would be the only light that they would see for a while.

* * *

**KZD: I'm writing and uploading this story during my school hours so that it is why its taking so long to upload.**


End file.
